BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: ab 716
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: dickinson
VERSION: 6/14/11
Analysis by: Mark Stivers FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: June 21, 2011
SUBJECT:
Prohibition orders related to passenger misconduct on transit
services
DESCRIPTION:
This bill eliminates the sunset date on the law that allows
Sacramento Regional Transit and Fresno Area Express to issue
prohibition orders banning persons from entering district
property for determined periods of time for specified offenses
and adds the Bay Area Rapid Transit District to the program.
ANALYSIS:
SB 1561 (Steinberg), Chapter 528, Statutes of 2008 allows
Sacramento Regional Transit (RT) and Fresno Area Express (FAX),
until January 1, 2012, to issue prohibition orders banning
persons from entering the property, facilities, or vehicles of
the transit district for determined periods of time for
specified offenses. Specifically, current law allows RT and FAX
to issue a prohibition order to a person who has been cited on
at least three separate occasions within a period of 60 days for
any of the following infractions committed in or on a transit
vehicle, bus stop, or station of the transit district:
Interfering with the operator or operation of a transit
vehicle, or impeding the safe boarding or alighting of
passengers.
Committing any act or engaging in any behavior that may, with
reasonable foreseeability, cause harm or injury to any person
or property.
Willfully disturbing others on or in a transit facility or
vehicle by engaging in boisterous or unruly behavior.
Carrying an explosive or acid, flammable liquid, or toxic or
hazardous material in a public transit facility or vehicle.
Urinating or defecating in a transit facility or vehicle,
except in a lavatory.
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Willfully blocking the free movement of another person in a
transit facility or vehicle.
Defacing with graffiti the interior or exterior of the
facilities or vehicles of a public transportation system.
Current law also allows RT and FAX to issue a prohibition order
to a person who has been arrested or convicted once for any of
the following misdemeanors or felonies committed in or on a
vehicle, bus stop, or station of the transit district:
Acts involving violence, threats of violence, lewd or
lascivious behavior, or possession or sale of any illegal
substance.
Loitering with the intent to engage in drug-related activity.
Loitering with the intent to commit prostitution.
The maximum duration of a prohibition order is as follows:
30 days for a first order, 90 days for a second order within
one year, and 180 days for a third order within one year
related to infractions.
30 days if issued pursuant to an arrest for a misdemeanor or
felony offense. Upon conviction for the offense the order may
be extended to a total of 180 days for a misdemeanor and one
year for a felony.
A prohibition order is effective eleven days after delivery is
deemed complete unless the person contests the proposed order
within 10 days in accordance with procedures adopted by the
transit district. The procedures must include, among other
things, an opportunity to request an initial review and the
opportunity, if the person is dissatisfied with the results of
the initial review, to request an administrative hearing. The
hearing must provide an independent, objective, fair, and
impartial review of the prohibition order, and the hearing
officer's employment and compensation may not be directly or
indirectly linked to the number of prohibition orders upheld.
If the transit district or hearing officer determines that the
person did not understand the nature and extent of his or her
actions or did not have the ability to control his or her
actions, the prohibition order shall be canceled. If the person
is dependent upon the transit system for trips of necessity,
including travel to or from medical or legal appointments,
school or training classes, places of employment, or obtaining
food, clothing, and necessary household items, the transit
district or hearing officer must modify the prohibition order to
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allow for those trips. If the person is dissatisfied with the
result of the administrative hearing, he or she may seek
judicial review of the administrative hearing decision within 90
days.
Prior to implementing the prohibition order program, the transit
district must establish an advisory commission that is tasked,
among other things, with monitoring the issuance of prohibition
orders to ensure compliance with anti-discrimination laws and
with providing the governing board of the transit district and
the Legislature with an annual report on the program.
Separate from the SB 1561 provisions, current law makes it a
misdemeanor for a person to enter or remain upon without
permission any rail transit related property owned or operated
by a county transportation commission or transportation
authority or for a person to interfere with, interrupt, or
hinder the safe and efficient operation of the rail-related
facility.
Current law also provides generally that a peace officer, when
arresting a person for an infraction, may only require the
arrestee to present his or her driver's license or
identification for examination and to sign a written promise to
appear. Until January 1, 2012, a transit district inspector or
supervisor whose duties include enforcement of district
ordinances may arrest and issue citations pursuant to the peace
officer provisions but may not make custodial arrests.
This bill eliminates the sunset on the law described above that
allows RT and FAX to issue prohibition orders banning persons
from entering district property for determined periods of time
for specified offenses and authorizes the Bay Area Rapid Transit
District to issue such prohibition orders. The bill also:
Allows the district to issue a prohibition order to a person
who has been cited on at least three separate occasions within
a period of 90 days, as opposed to 60 days, for specified
infractions committed in or on a vehicle, bus stop, or station
of the transit district.
Provides that any person violating a prohibition order issued
is guilty of a misdemeanor.
Expands the current prohibition on trespassing on rail
transit-related properties to all transit-related property.
Removes the sunset on the provision of law allowing transit
district inspectors or supervisors whose duties include
AB 716 (DICKINSON) Page 4
enforcement of district ordinances to arrest and to issue
citations for infractions, including requiring the arrestee to
present his or her driver's license or identification for
examination and to sign a written promise to appear.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose of the bill . According to the author, over the years
RT has received a high number of complaints from riders
regarding the safety of RT vehicles, parking lots, and
passenger waiting areas. To encourage ridership and to reduce
emissions associated with daily commuting, potential
passengers need to feel that transit services are a safe
alternative to driving. SB 1561 allowed RT and FAX to exclude
passengers cited for certain offenses, helping to reduce
passenger disruptions and improve overall service. The author
believes that the Legislature should make the program
permanent and improve the program by authorizing prohibition
orders for repeat offenses over a longer period of time and,
most importantly, creating a consequence for failure to obey a
prohibition order.
2.Reports on existing programs . In its recent annual report, RT
indicates that it issued nine prohibition orders based on
misdemeanor or felony arrests between October 1, 2009 and
October 31, 2010. None of the alleged violators contested
the order. In addition, RT issued 129 infractions over this
same period for violations on the list of infractions eligible
for a prohibition order. The top three violations included:
Willfully disturbing others on or in a system facility
or vehicle by engaging in boisterous or unruly behavior
(59%).
Urinating or defecating in a system facility, except in
a lavatory (17%).
Interfering with the operator of the transit vehicle and
impeding the safe boarding or alighting of passengers
(12%).
None of the cited offenders repeated the violations three or
more times within the 60 day period. The annual report
recommends that the law be strengthened in three areas:
Allow the district to issue prohibition orders for three
repeat infractions in a 90 day period, as opposed to a 60
day period, which this bill does.
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Include fare violations as one of the infractions
eligible for a prohibition order.
Establish a penalty for violating an exclusion order,
which this bill does.
FAX began implement its exclusion order program on February 1,
2010. In its annual report for 2010, FAX stated that it has
issued 26 prohibition orders, all for misdemeanor and felony
acts, with over half relating to battery of public transit
employee or passenger. None of the orders was appealed,
however FAX modified three orders and dismissed two.
In the cover letter accompanying the report, FAX states, "It
is very apparent to us that this law has helped reduce some of
the behavioral issues aboard FAX buses." The report also
noted, however, an increase in assaults on bus drivers during
2010. FAX speculated that this was due to increased
unemployment. In addition to the recommendations above, FAX
recommended that the Legislature expand the program statewide,
allow transit providers to photograph persons subject to a
prohibition order and post those photographs in FAX facilities
to facilitate identification, and shorten the appeal period
from 10 days to one day after an arrest for a felony or
misdemeanor violation in order to allow for an immediate
prohibition order.
1.Limited to nuisance behaviors . The bill continues the
compromise reached in SB 1561, which allows RT and FAX to
issue prohibition orders only for specified offenses that
relate to behaviors that directly affect, disturb, or threaten
other riders. The list does not include offenses, such as
loitering or open containers, that may precede other
violations but do not directly affect other riders per se.
Nor does the list include offenses, such as fare evasion, that
negatively affect the district without directly harming other
riders.
2.Prohibition orders based on arrests . The bill permanently
allows RT and FAX to issue prohibition orders based on
multiple cited infractions and based on a single arrest or
conviction for certain misdemeanors and felonies. By allowing
for prohibition orders based on an arrest, this bill departs
from the usual American precedent of innocent until proven
guilty. The sponsors point out, however, that district
attorneys do not prosecute many nuisance offenses committed on
transit. When that occurs, transit districts have no other
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tools at their disposal to deal with nuisance behaviors. In
recognition of this departure, the bill maintains the maximum
length of an order based on arrest at 30 days. Such an order
can be extended upon conviction of the individual. In
addition, the bill maintains detailed due process procedures
for persons to contest a prohibition order.
3.Double referral . The Senate Rules Committee has referred this
bill to both this committee and the Public Safety Committee.
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 66-8
Appr: 17-0
Trans: 11-1
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the Committee before noon on
Wednesday, June 15,
2011)
SUPPORT: Sacramento Regional Transit District (sponsor)
Ridership for the Masses
Sacramento Area Council of Governments
OPPOSED: None received.